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Author Interviews NPR interviews with top authors and the NPR Book Tour, a weekly feature and podcast where leading authors read and discuss their writing. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Author Interviews

Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts'

Introverts, who prefer quieter, lower-stimulation environments, have trouble thriving in today's extrovert-oriented culture, says author Susan Cain. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Opinion

Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts'

Introvert Susan Cain is here to make the case for people who like to work in peace and quiet. Today's workplaces are designed for extroverts, she says, and put too much emphasis on group work. Cain's new book is called Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts'

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'How It All Began': A Lively Ode To Happenstance
Viking

'How It All Began': A Lively Ode To Happenstance

In her 20th work of fiction, Penelope Lively imagines a mugging that sets off a chain of events — and explores the role that chance plays in our lives. "You find yourself looking back over your own life and wondering about where it could have gone completely different," Lively says.

'How It All Began': A Lively Ode To Happenstance

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'Star'-Crossed: When Teens With Cancer Fall In Love
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'Star'-Crossed: When Teens With Cancer Fall In Love

You wouldn't necessarily think of a cancer support group as a place where teens meet and fall in love — but that's exactly what happens to Hazel and Augustus, the young protagonists in The Fault in Our Stars, the latest from author John Green.

'Star'-Crossed: When Teens With Cancer Fall In Love

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Can Science Be Done Without Secrecy?

In his book, Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science, Physicist Michael Nielsen discusses why scientists jealously guard their data and are slow to adopt online tools for collaboration. Nielsen talks about why attempts to create science wikipedias have failed.

Can Science Be Done Without Secrecy?

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'Birmingham': A Family Tale In The Civil Rights Era

NPR's Backseat Book Club

'Birmingham': A Family Tale In The Civil Rights Era

A road trip from Michigan to Alabama places the Watson family in Birmingham in 1963, just as racial tensions are roiling. Christopher Paul Curtis draws upon his own experiences growing up in the 1960s for this Newbery Honor-winning novel.

'Birmingham': A Family Tale In The Civil Rights Era

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A Practical Wedding

Planning Your Insanity-Free, 'Practical Wedding'

Couples planning their weddings are forced to make scores of difficult decisions — managing the guest list, the cost and family expectations. In her new book, Meg Keene helps couples focus a little more on the meaning of marriage, and a little less on the flowers and cake.

Planning Your Insanity-Free, 'Practical Wedding'

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All I Did Was Shoot My Man

In 'Shoot My Man,' Mosley Tells Tale Of Atonement

In All I Did Was Shoot My Man, Walter Mosley tells the story of a woman trying to get her life back on track after serving an eight-year prison sentence. Private investigator Leonid McGill knows she's innocent and tries to help her start over.

In 'Shoot My Man,' Mosley Tells Tale Of Atonement

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Was The Stimulus Package 'Money Well Spent'?
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Was The Stimulus Package 'Money Well Spent'?

Fresh Air

Did the economic stimulus program amount to a costly failure, or save the U.S. from a depression? ProPublica investigative reporter Michael Grabell's new book explains how the 2009 stimulus package was passed and what happened to taxpayers' money.

Was The Stimulus Package 'Money Well Spent'?

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Broadway Baby

'Broadway': A Mother's Wistful Quest For Stardom

In his debut novel, Broadway Baby, Alan Shapiro examines the fictional life of Miriam Bluestein, a woman whose dream of a life on stage slowly unravels her family. Shapiro says the story is presented as a struggle with emotional and physical intimacy.

'Broadway': A Mother's Wistful Quest For Stardom

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Glock

How The Glock Became America's Weapon Of Choice

Fresh Air

In his book Glock: The Rise of America's Gun, Paul Barrett traces how the sleek, high-capacity Austrian weapon found its way into Hollywood films and rap lyrics, not to mention two-thirds of all U.S. police departments.

How The Glock Became America's Weapon Of Choice

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A Ball (And A Caldecott) For 'Daisy' The Dog

A Ball (And A Caldecott) For 'Daisy' The Dog

A Ball for Daisy is a story of loss — a little dog loses her favorite red ball to a much larger dog — but now it's also a story about winning: On Monday, Chris Raschka's book won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal for best illustrated story.

A Ball (And A Caldecott) For 'Daisy' The Dog

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The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

An illustration shows heretics being tortured and nailed to wooden posts during the first Inquisition. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

Fresh Air

The Inquisition revolutionized record-keeping and surveillance techniques that are still used today, says Cullen Murphy. His new book God's Jury draws parallels between some of the interrogation techniques used in previous centuries with the ones used today.

The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

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Taft 2012

'Taft 2012': A Presidential Time Warp

In this satirical debut novel by Jason Heller, former president William Howard Taft gets the Rip Van Winkle treatment and finds himself caught up in a 21st-century election cycle.

'Taft 2012': A Presidential Time Warp

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'Cultural Revolution Cookbook': A Taste Of Humanity

Braised Pork In Soy Melisa Goh/NPR hide caption

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Books

'Cultural Revolution Cookbook': A Taste Of Humanity

A new book combines the memories and culinary skills of one Chinese political dissident who lived through the country's Cultural Revolution. Since food was rationed, Sasha Gong learned to cook with whatever she could find. "There's something about humanity," she says. "It's hard to suppress."

'Cultural Revolution Cookbook': A Taste Of Humanity

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